Diet Changes: Small Beginnings

SMALL BEGINNINGS

I started my campaign by eliminating second (and third) helpings from my meals.

I ate what was on a single plate, and no more. That was a good starting point, because I already knew that was just excessive and greedy. It was a good discipline technique.

Next, I began by reducing the amount of food I ate at every meal.

We eat entirely too much at a sitting. An average meal size should fit in our open hand.
If you eat that amount of food, and then wait 15 minutes before continuing to eat, I think you'd be amazed at how satisfied you are.

We eat so much at a single sitting because our minds tell us we're full before we have a chance to let our stomachs catch up.

I ate more slowly and deliberately. What's the race?
The pace and relaxation of our meal is important.

TURN OFF THE TELEVISION.

Don't wolf the food down in huge gasping breaths like you're at a pie-eating contest. The food is not going anywhere. Relax. Concentrate on the flavor of the food.

Have gratitude for the fact that you have it at all, and especially gratitude if someone prepared it for you. Consider the importance of the kind of food you're eating and the effect it will have on your body.

After a few weeks of getting used to not eating so much, I started eating little snacks throughout the day to keep me from having hunger pangs or energy problems. This helped reduce getting hungry out of the blue (or 'a coming appetite,' as we call it.) Now, they have to be smart snacks, but we'll deal with specifics later.)

I then stopped eating dinner so late in the evening. I don't eat a full meal any later than 8 p.m., and that's assuming I will go to bed at 12 midnight.
I don't want a full meal on my stomach any later than 4 hours prior to going to bed. Any meal you eat just before bedtime does not get worked off nor digested well.

I learned to eat the opposite of what I used to regarding meal size. (most of us eat a tiny bit in the morning, and average amount at lunch, and a huge meal by the end of the day....and this is exactly the opposite of what we should be doing--for optimal health.)

I think it was Dr. Andrew Weil--a superb nutritionist--who said (I'll paraphrase) "We should eat like a king for breakfast, a prince for lunch, and a starving artist/student for dinner." This is based on what the energy needs of the body are throughout the day, and how well we process the foods. If we wait until late in the day to eat a huge meal, it will mostly be converted to fat.

The answer is not starving ourselves. We need to eat and eat well.

I eat a balance of all food groups at every meal, because the way foods interact with one another is important too. Plenty of grain, some dairy, a tiny bit of GOOD fats and oils, some protein (beans, lentils, lean meats, nuts), and plenty of vegetables and fruits.

There are so many possibilities out there to choose from; it's not being relegated to eating rabbit food!

You don't have to shop at a health food store to eat well; you CAN get healthy food at your local Wal-Mart if that's all that's available. (I hate to even suggest that, but for those of us facing geographic and financial limitations, well...ya know!)

You can also eat well at a decent price; it doesn't have to be expensive. (But even if it were, think about this; Isn't the reduction in sicknesses and the extra cost of medicine and doctor's visits and missed work worth the cost?)

You don't have to subscribe to everything I tell you about in order to change. I would recommend it, but it isn't necessary.
You can make improvements by picking and choosing what you find most suitable for you.

I can't guarantee the same tremendous results, but if you are making positive improvements in old behaviors, it won't hurt you.
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